Bit 3.8

I had a bit of a spring in my step after my meeting with Jenny. No it's not because of what you're thinking - i'm not that fickle. But she had an enthusiasm and vivacity which was more contagious than the plague. I'd taken her down to Photography section and within five minutes she had the whole team, men and women alike, eating out of the palm of her hand. And she managed to out-do Rob in the "smutty innuendo" stakes, a feat not achieved in many a year. Coupled with her excellent journalistic reputation, I was beginning to feel quite positive about the future.
Amazingly this carried through into my work, and I managed to go through the accounts in double-quick time. Despite the fact tht my ribs were really beginning to ache, I decided to hand deliver the papers to the financial section.
I was pretty sore by the time I got to the fourth floor, and the corridor which led to the various rooms in which finance hid themselves away, so I decided to have a quick sit in the chair opposite the lift. And with immaculate timing, Mary chose that moment to emerge from the lift.
She looked pretty startled when she saw me. I thought I could detect a bit of redness around her eyes.
"Remi, we must stop meeting like this." Her voice definitely carried a hint of enforced jollity, and sounded like it might crack at any moment.
I smiled and lifted myself - unaided, notice - to my feet. "I was just coming up to give you the quarterlies." I held out the slim folder, and, as she reached forward to take the folder from me I smelt the summer fields full of flowers again. The tips of her fingers brushed against my hand.
"Thanks Remi." And she turned to go.
Sod it. I'm not going to put my life on hold any more.
"Mary?"
She turned to look at me.
"Is that offer of a drink still on tonight?"
And her eyes, previously hinting at sadness, lit up like fireworks against a deep blue night-time sky.
"Well, I was going to head back..."
Oh no, don't let me have ruined this.
"...but if you're sure you want to?"
"I'd love to." That was pathetically eager. But worth it for the smile that just lit up her face. "Shall I come down and fetch you at, say, 5?"
"On the dot."
And, waving goodbye, she disappeared down the corridor.Hmm. I feel quite smug now. Yes indeed, it's a beautiful day alright.
"Remi?"
I turned. Andrew Marlin, God of the IPC Journalism section.
"I've been looking for you. Can you come to my office for a word? I've got something that needs your urgent attention."
It was all going so well.